The percentage of the population that reported having a regular health care provider

A regular health care provider is defined as a health professional that a person sees or talks to when he or she needs care or advice about health. This can include a family doctor or general practitioner, a medical specialist or a nurse practitioner.

The percentage of the population that reported having a regular health care provider

A regular health care provider is defined as a health professional that a person sees or talks to when he or she needs care or advice about health. This can include a family doctor or general practitioner, a medical specialist or a nurse practitioner.

Calculation: Description

Population age 12 and older who reported that they have a regular health care provider divided by the total population age 12 and older

Population estimates are based on weighted survey responses to reflect the total population.

Calculation: Geographic Assignment

Place of residence

Calculation: Type of Measurement

Percentage or proportion

Calculation: Adjustment Applied

None

Calculation: Method of Adjustment

Not applicable

Denominator

Description:
Population age 12 and older (based on weighted survey responses)Exclusions:
Non-response categories (refusal, don’t know and not stated) are excluded as of 2009.

Numerator

Description:
Population age 12 and older who reported that they have a regular health care provider (based on weighted survey respondents)

On a daily basis, many Canadians receive health care services, usually through nurse practitioners, general practitioners or family physicians. Having a regular health care provider is an important source of disease prevention and management. Factors affecting whether a person has a regular health care provider include age and sex. In 2016, the most common reason respondents gave for not having a regular health care provider was that they had not looked for one.

Data for the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) is collected yearly from a sample of approximately 65,000 respondents. CANSIM Table 105-0509 presents estimates from 2-year combined data and features estimates for all provinces and territories as well as for health regions. The 2-year combined data has higher precision (less variability) than annual estimates; annual CCHS estimates are not available at the health region level.

Some values have data quality flags that indicate "use with caution" or "suppressed" due to high coefficients of variation: health regions with small populations and results disaggregated by age group or sex within small regions.

The CCHS covers the population age 12 and older living in the 10 provinces and 3 territories. Excluded from the survey's coverage are

Persons living on reserves and other Aboriginal settlements in the provinces

Altogether, these exclusions represent less than 3% of the Canadian population age 12 and older.

Trending Issues

As a result of a redesign in 2015, the CCHS has a new collection strategy and sample design. For this reason, Statistics Canada does not recommend making comparisons with CCHS data from 2001 to 2014.

Comments

This indicator is calculated based on 2 years of pooled data from 2015 and 2016.

Data for Ontario’s local health integration networks and British Columbia’s regional health authorities was received from Statistics Canada through custom tabulation requests:

Source: Statistics Canada. Selected CCHS Indicators for Ontario by Local Health Integration Network, 2015–2016. February 27, 2018. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.

Source: Statistics Canada. Selected CCHS Indicators for British Columbia by Regional Health Authority, 2015–2016. March 12, 2018. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.